Saturday, December 1, 2012

Anchorage Daily News Palin Book Review "hugely popular Palin won election mandate for reform that resulted in some of the most significant legislation in statehood history"

The Anchorage Daily News carries a review by Professor Alan Boraas of what they describe as "the definitive" book by journalist Matthew Zencey on the Governorship of Sarah Palin "Unlikely Liberal: Sarah Palin's Curious Record as Alaska's Governor" now out from Potomac Books."

On a very positive note the reviewer Alan Boraas advises that the book lacks the idiotic personal attacks that so typify the knee jerk responses to anything Palin from the immature left. Noteworthy too is the comment that Palin's fans and enemies will find something to their distaste thus the book will approach something like balance which is also noteworthy for its absence in other books and articles.

The haters will hate, (Andree McCleod has weighed in of course and all the early comments run true to negative form) as Palin says but this comment will stand on its own as an unimpeachable rebuttal:Charming, energetic, and hugely popular, Sarah Palin won election and a mandate for reform that, Zencey writes, resulted in some of the most significant legislation in statehood history: ACES and the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA). Zencey points out that ACES oil taxation put a billion dollars a year in Alaska's coffers while virtually every other state was feeling the bite of one of our country's worst economic crises. Alaska's budget and its oil industry have thrived.*************************************************************************************************************************Here is part of the book review:

Former Anchorage Daily News opinion editor, Matthew Zencey, has written a definitive book on the Gov. Sarah Palin years titled "Unlikely Liberal: Sarah Palin's Curious Record as Alaska's Governor" now out from Potomac Books.

Palin-lovers won't like it. There is no image adoration that obscures critical thinking. Palin-haters won't like it either. Make no mistake, Zencey is professionally frank, but there are no mean comments about her family, intelligence, looks or other irrelevant spite.

"Unlikely Liberal" is an unexpected title for a book about Sarah Palin, who has rebranded herself as an anti-big government, anti-public spending, pro-oil development commentator appealing to tea party conservatives. Writing in clear, concise prose honed from over 20 years of ADN editorial writing, Zencey captures the enigma that is Sarah Palin and the astonishing fact that tea party conservatives could overlook the old Sarah in their embrace of the new Sarah.

One of the fundamentals of journalism, Zencey writes, is to focus on what politicians do, not what they say. That's a good practice for all of us.

Many Alaskans are still on Palin overload, thankful for the quieter days of Gov. Sean Parnell. But political amnesia is political suicide and revisiting those years in the hands of a master writer is an exercise in understanding the present to make good decisions about the future, in this case the very near future. Zencey's chapters on the history of Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share are a must-read for those who want to make Alaska-first choices about the next verse in the saga of Alaskan oil taxation.

Zencey reminds us of the origin of the Palin phenomena leading to the present level of taxation. Palin blew the whistle on Randy Reudrich's use of public time on the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission to campaign for Republicans, establishing her rogue reputation. Gov. Frank Murkowski, meanwhile, had sunk to the lowest approval rating of any Alaskan governor with unpopular initiatives like the jet, mixing zones, and a deal with the oil industry to unconstitutionally give away Alaska's tax authority in exchange for development of moribund North Slope gas.

Another spear in Alaska's side was the oil industry-initiated corruption and bribery scandals in the midst of which it engineered a production profits tax bringing in $800 million less per year than expected. On another front Exxon and other pipeline owners' manipulated tax reporting, costing the state upwards of $10 billion.

Charming, energetic, and hugely popular, Sarah Palin won election and a mandate for reform that, Zencey writes, resulted in some of the most significant legislation in statehood history: ACES and the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA). Zencey points out that ACES oil taxation put a billion dollars a year in Alaska's coffers while virtually every other state was feeling the bite of one of our country's worst economic crises. Alaska's budget and its oil industry have thrived.

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